Hacker's Duel
by Aeris Tsukiyono
Summary: After a mission, Nagi finds a way into Weiss' computer system. Nagi and Omi face off. One-shot.


"Hacker's Duel"  
  
Disclaimer: Weiss Kruez doesn't belong to me. Please don't sue me. Thank you kindly.  
  
"Normal speech"  
  
-Intercom-  
  
~Telepathy ~  
  
-Bombay! Bombay, can you hear me?-  
  
-Hai.- Omi muttered through his intercom.  
  
-Get out! Get out now! Balinese just cut the power; it triggered some sort of alarm.-  
  
Omi shook his head. He knew Youji had been briefed on the various alarms this building had. Why on earth would he trip one of them?  
  
Soft laughter behind him made him shiver. Omi whirled around to find Farfarello kneeling in the shadows, knives displayed in his hands.  
  
Omi quickly looked around to see if the other members of Schwartz were nearby. But no, only Farfarello was there.  
  
"A little kitten lost his way," Farfarello whispered, monotonous as usual.  
  
-Abyssinian- Omi said into his intercom. -Schwartz is here. Berserker is down here with me.-  
  
-K'so!- Youji cursed. Aya remained silent.  
  
-Who else is with him?- Ken asked.  
  
Omi shook his head, realized it was a futile gesture, and sighed. -He's alone, Siberian.-  
  
Shocked silence from the intercom. -Nani?!- Balinese said. -They've left him unsupervised? He'll kill them, too!-  
  
A knife cut through Omi's hand, knocking the handset from his grasp. A glint of silver kept it away from his reach. It felt sharp against his throat.  
  
"One little kitten all alone," Farfarello said, his golden eye glinting in the dark. "No one there to take him home." The knife pressed harder against Omi's throat. Omi swallowed nervously, and a trickle of blood ran down his collarbone. "His three friends watched and cried." Farfarello's voice was beginning to get louder, and he was soon screaming in Omi's ear. "As that little kitten was forced to die!"  
  
Omi quickly ran through his possibilities. 1- death. That was out. 2- escape. But how?  
  
Farfarello's golden eye twitched as he watched the younger assassin think. He knew the kitten was trying to get away. His hand moved slightly, making another small rivulet of blood drop down from Omi's throat.  
  
"Poor Bombay. The cat isn't here to protect you."  
  
A string lanced into the air and circled down on Farfarello's hand, causing him to look up with mild curiosity. The cut had absolutely no effect on him, but Youji had known that when he used his garrote.  
  
"Bombay!" Youji called. "Get the hell up here!"  
  
Omi scrambled out of Farfarello's grasp, just as the psychopath was beginning to understand what was happening. Omi dodged around the two knives flung his way and threw two darts back at Farfarello. They hit him dead-on target. Of course, they had no effect on him at all.  
  
Omi ran to the door, grabbing Youji's arm. Youji pulled him up into the vents.  
  
Youji closed the vent behind them while Farfarello started slashing at the furniture in the computer room.  
  
"You okay?" Youji asked him. As soon as Omi nodded, Youji spoke into his intercom. -Abyssinian, Siberian, I've got Bombay.-  
  
A sigh over the static. -Good work, Balinese.- Ken said.  
  
-We're leaving. Now.- Aya said, then shut his intercom off.  
  
Youji and Omi shuffled along the vent, leaving Farfarello behind them. They traveled along in silence until they reached the rendezvous point. Youji opened the vent up, and Omi jumped down first. Youji got down after him and replaced the vent. Ken and Aya were waiting right outside the room. They still didn't speak until they got outside, and hopped in their car. Aya took the driver's seat and only when they were sure they weren't being followed did they start up a conversation.  
  
"Are you hurt?" Ken asked Omi.  
  
Omi shook his head. "No, Farfarello just cut me across the hand." He held it up to show Ken. It looked bad, but most of the bleeding had stopped.  
  
"You're going to have to get that looked at," Youji said. "Fucking psychopath. Schwartz should know better than to leave him alone. Especially if he's in one of his 'bad' moods." He lit a cigarette and puffed on it idly. "Fucking psychopath."  
  
"Come on, Youji-kun," Omi said. "It's not that bad."  
  
"Not that bad?! Look at you! Blood all over your clothes! I'm not washing that out, so don't even ask!"  
  
"Youji, be quiet." Ken looked back at me. "Are you sure you're alright?"  
  
Omi smiled. "I've had worse."  
  
Aya drove back into the flower shop's garage and they all trooped upstairs to their own rooms.  
  
Farfarello was still in a hysterical killing rage when Schuldich came in to get him.  
  
"Farf!" Schuldich said, shaking him by the shoulders. "Farf!" ~Farf, can you hear me? ~ Schuldich asked in his mind. Farf's mind answered in a blur of unintelligible remarks, most of them related to blood and kittens. Well, it would make sense to him sooner or later, but for the time being...  
  
~Crawford! ~ Schuldich slid into his mind with familiar ease. ~I need some help with Farf. ~  
  
~I'll be right there. ~ Crawford knew that Farfarello was bad, otherwise Schuldich would have taken care of any problems himself. Crawford's 'voice' wasn't particularly loud, but it controlled you. You shut up when he was speaking, even in your mind. Unlike when he was trying to ignore Schuldich's constant bickering in his own mind.  
  
~Something wrong with Farf? ~ Nagi asked. His 'voice' was always quiet, non-intruding. But the feeling of it was very deep, hard on the edges, with a small, buried amount of delicacy somewhere. It echoed around in his mind. Schuldich loved 'listening' to Nagi. ~ I thought the new pills were helping him. ~  
  
Schuldich mentally sighed. It felt similar to wind in their minds. ~ Well, they were... ~  
  
~ Ah... ~ Nagi replied.  
  
Schuldich looked up when Crawford came in. As usual, Brad looked as though he had just come from a GQ modeling session. His immaculate white suit stood out in the black, shadowed computer control room. His glasses glinted as he stepped forward.  
  
"Be gentle," Schuldich said, only half joking. He let go of Farfarello, who suddenly lunged out, knives bared, at Crawford.  
  
Crawford sighed, and with reflexes he'd taken years to perfect he sidestepped the attack. Before Farfarello realized that Crawford had even moved, Brad gave him a swift, clean right uppercut. It connected squarely with his jaw, leaving Farfarello unconscious on the floor.  
  
"Let's go," Crawford said, turning around and walking out the door.  
  
"Hey! Hey, Crawford, wait a minute!" Schuldich shouted after him. Nagi poked his head into the room and Schuldich sighed. "Hey, kid. Make sure Crawford waits for us, okay?"  
  
Nagi didn't reply. His eyes were focused on an object across the room. "Schu," he started. "What's that?"  
  
"What's what?" Schuldich asked. He turned around and saw where Nagi was pointing. Schuldich shrugged. "Dunno, Nagi-kun."  
  
"Their communicator," Nagi said, as it floated over to rest in his hands. "Bombay must have left it here."  
  
"Good for him," Schuldich replied, busy with tying Farfarello up. "Hey, come on, Nagi, give me a hand over here."  
  
Nagi was still pondering over the item, so Schuldich reached into his mind to find out what he was thinking. His mind was a whir of thoughts, most of them processed even before Nagi had time to fully form them. No wonder Nagi got migraines after he used his telekinesis for big things if this is what his mind was like after simply bringing a small object twenty feet across a room.  
  
~ Nagi, you okay? ~ Schuldich asked him, softly.  
  
Nagi nodded imperceptibly. Then he put the communicator in his pocket and got some rope from Schuldich. He knelt down to tie Farfarello up, then helped Schuldich carefully drag him towards Crawford and their waiting car.  
  
Schuldich got in the front seat while Nagi floated Farfarello in the back. Nagi got in beside Farfarello. The ride home was quiet, even though a conversation was, in fact, taking place.  
  
~ So, what happened? ~ Nagi asked.  
  
~ Weiss had the same target. Abyssinian killed him before I found him. ~ Crawford's reply was short and to the point.  
  
~ Why would Weiss have the same target as us? ~ Schuldich asked, confused.  
  
~ Kritiker wanted someone dead, they get their lackeys to do it. No offense, of course. ~ Nagi explained, sending that last comment to Crawford. ~ Brad? ~  
  
~ Hmm? ~ Crawford asked.  
  
~ Does this mean we have the rest of the night off? ~ Nagi sounded plaintive.  
  
Crawford raised an eyebrow, amused. ~ Why? ~  
  
~ Well, you see, I think I found one of Weiss's communicators there. Ne, Schuldich? ~  
  
~ Don't bring me into this. ~  
  
~ So, you want to see if it will help you track down their location? ~ Crawford asked, now paying attention to the young assassin's request.  
  
~ Hai. I mean, it would take a little while, what with downloading the data and matching up it's internet coordinates to an actual spatial spot, but I think I could have it done within a day. ~  
  
~ What about school? ~  
  
~ What ABOUT school?~ Nagi repeated.  
  
~ Don't you have classes tomorrow? ~  
  
~ Ah, let him stay home. ~ Schuldich intervened. ~ The kid has no free time. ~  
  
~ I thought you were staying out of this. ~ Crawford said.  
  
~ Sorry, sorry... just a thought. ~  
  
~ Please, Brad. Twenty-four hours, that's all I want. ~  
  
~ That's all you're getting. ~  
  
By that point, they were back at their base. Crawford took over control of Farfarello, locking him into his room and strapping him down. Schuldich disappeared, as was his habit. Nagi, however, sat down at his computer and immediately started tracking down any and all relationships between this communicator and Weiss.  
  
In a matter of minutes, he had access to all of the old sales records from electronic stores in Tokyo. Another minute and he had weeded out the stores that didn't sell that model, and those that hadn't sold four within the same week.  
  
Nagi smiled. He would get this thing done before breakfast.  
  
Omi sat still in a chair, as Ken asked, while Aya went to rummage around for some bandages. Youji had turned on the broken TV, and was watching the static as if it was entertaining. He often said that if you stared long enough you would see something worthwhile. Ken laughed when he said this, Omi shook his head, and Aya ignored the world, as usual.  
  
Aya gave the bandages to Youji, who turned off his TV after a few minutes, and left to go to his room.  
  
"Well, there's a thoughtful person for you," Youji said sarcastically. "Leaves all the work to somebody else." Youji wrapped a bandage around Omi's hand, tightly, then asked Omi to test it out.  
  
"It's fine," Omi replied.  
  
"Good." Ken sighed and walked up the stairs to his own room. "Night."  
  
Omi started to go to his room, but Youji stopped him. "Listen, kid, don't stay up all night on that computer, alright?"  
  
Omi nodded. "Sure, Youji-kun." He turned to leave, then turned back around. "And don't call me kid!"  
  
Youji chuckled, messed up Omi's hair, and left for his own room. Omi tested his hand out a little more. Was it good enough to type with? Probably. If he could test it out... Well, what would the others know?  
  
Omi veered off into the computer room and did a random search. He was just hacking into various systems, fooling around with their codes, and wandering off, when he came across something strange. An unknown user was trying to hack into their files.  
  
Omi immediately sent a virus out to the intruder, but it was killed in less than ten seconds. Omi thought about sending up another firewall, but immediately dismissed that idea. Instead, he opened up a new package he had just bought himself. It would be fun to see how the user took it.  
  
He downloaded the upgrade into the system, then started to reverse the process. The new equipment let the intruder think that Omi had logged off, when he was actually going to hack into the intruder's computer. It was genius.  
  
Omi only got as far as their desktop when he heard a sigh behind him. He turned around and saw Youji standing there.  
  
"Oh, Youji, I was just-"  
  
"Totally ignoring what I said? Yeah, I noticed." Youji walked forward. "What is this?" he asked, pointing towards the screen.  
  
"This intruder is trying to hack into our system." Youji looked surprised. "I know, who'd want to hack into old flower sales, right? But, if they happened to find out about Weiss, then-"  
  
"We'd be in trouble," Youji finished. "Well, kick him out or something."  
  
"I'm trying," Omi said. "But this guy's good. He's already gotten past five of my viruses and two of our firewalls. He's only got one of our twenty-two passwords, though. That'll take him only onto our desktop. Of course, I can't get any farther than HIS desktop, so it might take some time to-"  
  
"Twenty-four?" Youji asked, obviously missing the last half of Omi's remark.  
  
"Twenty-two."  
  
"Whatever. Why so many?"  
  
Omi raised an eyebrow at Youji. "Come on, Youji-kun. I'm a professional."  
  
Youji snorted. "You're a freaking paranoid lunatic. Can't say I blame you, though."  
  
Omi went back to the intruder. He was slowly making his way into their files. Omi hacked into the intruder's files, and found out something quite interesting.  
  
"Ne, Youji," Omi said.  
  
"Yeah?" Youji asked.  
  
"I think this is that kid form Schwartz."  
  
"Nani?!" Youji replied. "But, how do you know?"  
  
"It's got his signature written all over it. This program he's using. I'd have thought he wouldn't do that, unless..." Omi's eyes hardened as he thought of another option. "Unless he wanted to show off what he was doing. That must be it. He wants to prove that he can hack into my system. This is a challenge."  
  
"Omi, that sounds a bit out-there, you know?" Youji said. "Hey, Omi? Omi?" Youji sighed. Omi was relapsing into one of his 'ignore-humanity- while-I-stay-on-my-computer-for-ninety-days' moods. It would take a lot to drag him out of it.  
  
"I don't get it," Nagi said, more to himself than to a person. He knew that Bombay was online, and trying to get him out of his system. But his moves were erratic, not like the planned out strategy that Nagi intended to use. Bombay's methods were simplistic, but they were more effective then even his own. He would have to work harder to break up Bombay's concentration.  
  
Nagi felt Schuldich slide across his mind, which was his way of a greeting.  
  
~ Having fun, Nagi? ~ Schuldich asked, from somewhere in the base.  
  
~ Schu, I'm tracking down Weiss, but I'm sure Bombay knows what I'm doing. ~  
  
~ Then why don't you stop? ~  
  
~ I can't stop. Brad will kill me if I don't finish this. We could have Weiss's location at our fingertips. Bombay is just a step that I need to take in order to get it. ~  
  
Schuldich sighed, and mentally ruffled Nagi's hair. ~ You just don't give up, do you? ~  
  
~ No. You should know that by now, Schu. ~  
  
~ I should, but then again, there's a great many things that I should know by now, but don't. ~  
  
Crawford's mind slipped into the conversation, and both immediately were quiet.  
  
~ Quite true, Schuldich. One of the many being when to shut up so people can get some sleep! ~ Crawford's mind leaved, and both Nagi and Schuldich sighed.  
  
~ See you later, Prodigy. ~ Schuldich said, then slid out of Nagi's mind.  
  
Nagi looked back at the screen. While he had been distracted, Bombay had gotten into over forty percent of the system. He was fast. Nagi would have to do some serious typing to make up for it.  
  
Omi looked at the computer. The kid had been doing nothing for a while now. Was he just going to sit there and taunt Omi like that? How confident can someone be? Omi was now over halfway into his system. Was that kid going to just wait until Omi had control over everything?  
  
There must be some trick here that he wasn't seeing. There has to be something. Omi needed to work harder, faster, and more efficiently if he wanted to find out what it was.  
  
Damn it, Bombay was going to beat him. Nagi tried all the viruses he knew, but Bombay dodged over each of them as if they were pebbles. All that time had done Nagi some serious damage. Now, he could only try to make sure Bombay didn't get too much information.  
  
Omi noticed the kid's change from trying to hack into Omi's system to trying to save his own. The hacker smiled, and he knew that it would just be another few minutes before the Schwartz database was his.  
  
Nagi started to panic. If this turned out wrong, he would get seriously beat for screwing up Schwartz's plans. Nagi did the only thing he could think of to save the files. He quickly copied them onto an alternate hard drive and trashed the originals. Then, he sent a few more viruses Bombay's way and shut down the computer. He knew that would only buy him some time, and that Weiss had won this time.  
  
~ How are you going to fix this one? ~  
  
Nagi smiled at his friend's thought. It was true, then, that he would be in trouble when Crawford woke up. Ah, well, at least the files were safe.  
  
~ Good thing, too, ~ Schuldich thought idly. ~ Or Crawford would beat you black and blue. ~  
  
~ GO TO SLEEP!! ~  
  
Crawford's desperate plea left Nagi and Schuldich laughing. Punishment would wait until morning. The night, however, would always be their own. 


End file.
